BOB THOMPSON (1937 - 1966) Nude with Green Statue.
Oil on cream wove paper, 1958. 600x457 mm; 23 1/2x18 inches. Signed, titled and dated in oil, upper right.
Provenance: private collection, New York; purchased at Clarke's, Larchmont, NY (2008): private collection, New York.
An extraordinary early nude by this artist and a very scarce work on paper from his breakout period in Provincetown. In the summer of 1958, Thompson began to paint figuratively and moved away from abstract painting - greatly influenced by fellow resident artists Jan Müller and Gandy Brodie. Beginning with his hommage The Funeral of Jan Müller, these early works are painted in a darker, cooler palette, and typically in oil on masonite. Unlike his mature style, these early works are also signed either "Rob Thompson" or "R. Thompson" in block letters. The Provincetown paintings were all exhibited in the 1958 Provincetown Arts Festival sponsored by the Chrysler Museum, of which Walter Chrylser purchased 13 of the works.
